Two Southern California teams lost at home on Friday to a team that was not on this board. One of them was Mater Dei. One of them was Bishop Amat. Only one of them is still here.
That is not a contradiction. That is the difference between losing to Bishop Gorman and losing to JSerra.
The swap at the top
Mater Dei lost 25-8 to Gorman in Santa Ana. St. John Bosco went to Honolulu and beat St. Louis 63-21. Bosco moves up to third, Mater Dei drops to fourth. On the national board the gap is wider: Bosco is 12th, Mater Dei is 19th, down nine. Losing by 17 at home to a top ten team is going to cost you. It just costs you less on a board where the teams behind you have also lost a game.
Santa Margarita shut out Norco 34-0 and stays first at 5-0. Sierra Canyon beat Orange Lutheran 28-10 and stays second. Centennial of Corona beat Rancho Cucamonga 41-7 and holds fifth. Orange Lutheran holds sixth despite the loss, because a road loss to the No. 2 team in your own region is the most forgivable result on the card. Mission Viejo beat Pittsburg 42-35, NorCal's fifth ranked team, and holds seventh.
JSerra in, Bishop Amat out
JSerra went to La Puente and beat Bishop Amat 37-28. JSerra is 4-1 and comes on at eighth. Amat was 10th and had nowhere to fall but off.
San Clemente did not play and slides one to ninth at 4-0. Carlsbad beat Valley Center 49-12, is 5-0, and slides one to 10th. Neither team did anything wrong. A team came on above them that beat somebody already on the board, and that is how the last three spots move.
| Rank | Team | Record | Last week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Margarita, Rancho Santa Margarita | 5-0 | Hold |
| 2 | Sierra Canyon, Chatsworth | 4-0 | Hold |
| 3 | St. John Bosco, Bellflower | 4-1 | Up 1 |
| 4 | Mater Dei, Santa Ana | 4-1 | Down 1 |
| 5 | Centennial, Corona | 2-2 | Hold |
| 6 | Orange Lutheran, Orange | 3-2 | Hold |
| 7 | Mission Viejo | 4-1 | Hold |
| 8 | JSerra, San Juan Capistrano | 4-1 | New |
| 9 | San Clemente | 4-0 | Down 1 |
| 10 | Carlsbad | 5-0 | Down 1 |
Off the board: Bishop Amat.
Seven of the ten are on the Power 100
Santa Margarita is 2nd in the country. Sierra Canyon is 7th. Bosco 12th, Mater Dei 19th, Centennial of Corona 20th, Orange Lutheran 37th, Mission Viejo 39th. Seven SoCal teams inside the national top 40. Nobody else has a region like that, and the two teams that lost this week both lost to teams ranked in our top 20. Somebody is going to argue the region is down this year. Bring the list.
